PROBE HITS SMUGGLING FRONTIER

Canada-U.S. Effort Targets Drug Air Drops

VANCOUVER - Helicopters may no longer be the preferred mode of
transportation for marijuana smugglers crossing the British Columbia
border into the United States as a result of a two-year investigation
dubbed Operation Frozen Timber.

More than 3,600 kilograms of marijuana, 300 kilograms of cocaine,
three aircraft and $1.5-million in U.S. currency have been seized in
the investigation, which targeted smugglers using helicopters and
fixed-wing aircraft. As well, 40 people have been arrested in the
United States over the past two years, and six in B.C.

U.S. authorities and representatives from the RCMP came together
yesterday in Bellingham, Wash., to outline the investigation.

Surveillance video displayed a helicopter carrying large shipments of
marijuana, which was then transferred to a waiting pickup truck in
Okanogan National Forest in Washington State. The use of air drops are
a "new frontier" for drug smuggling, said Special Agent Peter
Ostrovsky of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The smugglers would transport "high-grade" B.C. marijuana to the
United States to remote locations in Washington State that would often
be exchanged for cocaine.

The use of helicopters to smuggle marijuana has increased since the
Sept. 11, 2001, terrorism attacks, in part because it became more
difficult to use other methods such as hiding drugs in transport
trucks, a source familiar with the investigation said.

The joint news conference was not tied to any specific drug seizure or
arrests, said Emily Langlie, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's
Office in the western district of Washington.

"There has been a certain amount of success in a two-year
investigation," Ms. Langlie said. "It was the appropriate time to make
the public aware of the problem and the success law enforcement has
had."

The probe was led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officials, although it was described yesterday as a "multi-agency
operation" with co-operation from the RCMP.

Law enforcement officials said yesterday the smugglers are
"independent aerial smuggling cells," that sub-contract their services
to criminal organizations. One of the organizations is the so-called
"United Nations" gang which is based in Abbotsford, a source said.

The joint news conference yesterday referred publicly to only two B.C.
arrests. Daryl Gilles Desjardins, 45, and Dustin Melvin Haugen, 25,
have been in custody in Chilliwack since early last month on charges
they were part of an operation that smuggled 150 kilograms of
marijuana into the United States.

A helicopter allegedly owned by Mr. Desjardins was seized last month
where it was stored near his restaurant in Harrison Hot Springs. He
was also ordered by a U.S. court last September to pay $5-million in
connection with an alleged penny stock fraud after an investigation by
the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mr. Desjardin and Mr. Haugen were scheduled to make court appearances
today in Chilliwack.